Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical forceps having optical components for monitoring and controlling tissue sealing. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to open or endoscopic forceps that incorporates Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) system components to monitor and to provide feedback for controlling a tissue sealing.
Description of Related Art
Existing energy-based tissue-sealing surgical forceps use different types of energy to heat tissue. The different types of energy used to heat tissue include direct heat conduction from a heating element, RF current, ultrasound, and light. A typical energy-based tissue-sealing surgical forceps includes jaw members for grasping and compressing the tissue and applying energy to the tissue.
During a surgical procedure, it is important for a surgeon to be able to determine the status of a tissue seal, e.g., the quality of a tissue seal. This feedback allows a surgeon to appropriately operate the tissue-sealing surgical forceps to create a high-quality tissue seal. Existing tissue-sealing surgical forceps and associated systems may not provide sufficient information about the status of a tissue seal.